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¹ Now the days of David drew near that he should die; and he charged Solomon his son, saying,² I am going the way of all the earth: be strong therefore, and show yourself a man;³ and keep the charge of Yahweh your God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, [and] his commandments, and his ordinances, and his testimonies, according to that which is written in the law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do, and wherever you turn yourself.⁴ That Yahweh may establish his word which he spoke concerning me, saying, If your sons take heed to their way, to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail you (he said) a man on the throne of Israel.⁵ Moreover you know also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, even what he did to the two captains of the hosts of Israel, to Abner the son of Ner, and to Amasa the son of Jether, whom he slew, and shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war on his girdle that was about his loins, and in his shoes that were on his feet.⁶ Do therefore according to your wisdom, and don't let his hoar head go down to Sheol in peace.⁷ But show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be of those that eat at your table; for so they came to me when I fled from Absalom your brother.⁸ And, look, there is with you Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite, of Bahurim, who cursed me with a grievous curse in the day when I went to Mahanaim; but he came down to meet me at the Jordan, and I swore to him by Yahweh, saying, I will not put you to death with the sword.⁹ Now therefore don't hold him innocent, for you are a wise man; and you will know what you ought to do to him, and you shall bring his hoar head down to Sheol with blood.¹⁰ And David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David.¹¹ And the days that David reigned over Israel were forty years; seven years he reigned in Hebron, and thirty and three years he reigned in Jerusalem.

¹² And Solomon sat on the throne of David his father; and his kingdom was established greatly.¹³ Then Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. And she said, Do you come peaceably? And he said, Peaceably.¹⁴ He said moreover, I have something to say to you. And she said, Say on.¹⁵ And he said, You know that the kingdom was mine, and that all Israel set their faces on me, that I should reign: nevertheless the kingdom has turned about, and has become my brother's; for it was his from Yahweh.¹⁶ And now I ask one petition of you; don't deny me. And she said to him, Say on.¹⁷ And he said, Speak, I pray you, to Solomon the king (for he will not say no to you), that he give me Abishag the Shunammite as wife.¹⁸ And Bathsheba said, Good; I will speak for you to the king.¹⁹ Bathsheba therefore went to king Solomon, to speak to him for Adonijah. And the king rose up to meet her, and bowed himself to her, and sat down on his throne, and caused a throne to be set for the king's mother; and she sat on his right hand.²⁰ Then she said, I ask one small petition of you; don't deny me. And the king said to her, Ask on, my mother; for I will not deny you.²¹ And she said, Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother as wife.²² And king Solomon answered and said to his mother, And why do you ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? ask for him the kingdom also; for he is my elder brother; and [you ask] for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah.²³ Then king Solomon swore by Yahweh, saying, God do so to me, and more also, if Adonijah has not spoken this word against his own life.²⁴ Now therefore as Yahweh lives, who has established me, and set me on the throne of David my father, and who has made me a house, as he promised, surely Adonijah shall be put to death this day.²⁵ And king Solomon sent by Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he fell on him, so that he died.

²⁶ And to Abiathar the priest said the king, Go to Anathoth, to your own fields; for you are worthy of death: but I will not at this time put you to death, because you bore the ark of the Lord Yahweh before David my father, and because you were afflicted in all wherein my father was afflicted.²⁷ So Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being priest to Yahweh, that he might fulfill the word of Yahweh, which he spoke concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.²⁸ And the tidings came to Joab; for Joab had turned after Adonijah, though he didn't turn after Absalom. And Joab fled to the Tent of Yahweh, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.²⁹ And it was told king Solomon, Joab had fled to the Tent of Yahweh, and, look, he is by the altar. Then Solomon sent to Joab, saying, What was [wrong] with you that you fled to the altar? And Joab said, Because I was afraid of you, I fled to Yahweh. And Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, Go, fall on him.³⁰ And Benaiah came to the Tent of Yahweh, and said to him, Thus says the king, Come forth. And he said, No; but I will die here. And Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me.³¹ And the king said to him, Do as he has said, and fall on him, and bury him; that you may take away the blood, which Joab shed without cause, from me and from my father's house.³² And Yahweh will return his blood on his own head, because he fell on two men more righteous and better than he, and slew them with the sword, and my father David didn't know it, [to wit], Abner the son of Ner, captain of the host of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, captain of the host of Judah.³³ So shall their blood return on the head of Joab, and on the head of his seed forever: but to David, and to his seed, and to his house, and to his throne, there shall be peace forever from Yahweh.³⁴ Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up, and fell on him, and slew him; and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness.

³⁵ And the king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his place over the host; and Zadok the priest the king put in the place of Abiathar.³⁶ And the king sent and called for Shimei, and said to him, Build yourself a house in Jerusalem, and dwell there, and don't go forth from there anywhere.³⁷ For on the day you go out, and pass over the brook Kidron, know you for certain that you shall surely die: your blood shall be on your own head.³⁸ And Shimei said to the king, The saying is good: as my lord the king has said, so will your slave do. And Shimei dwelt in Jerusalem many days.³⁹ And it came to pass at the end of three years, that two of the slaves of Shimei ran away to Achish, son of Maacah, king of Gath. And they told Shimei, saying, Look, your slaves are in Gath.⁴⁰ And Shimei arose, and saddled his donkey, and went to Gath to Achish, to seek his slaves; and Shimei went, and brought his slaves from Gath.⁴¹ And it was told Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and came again.⁴² And the king sent and called for Shimei, and said to him, Did I not adjure you by Yahweh, and protest to you, saying, Know for certain, that on the day you go out, and walk abroad anywhere, you shall surely die? and you said to me, The saying that I have heard is good.⁴³ Why then haven't you kept the oath of Yahweh, and the commandment that I have charged you with?⁴⁴ The king said moreover to Shimei, You know all the wickedness which your heart is privy to, that you did to David my father: therefore Yahweh shall return your wickedness on your own head.⁴⁵ But king Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before Yahweh forever.⁴⁶ So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he went out, and fell on him, so that he died. And the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.